Afford yourself Amarone occasionally

Amarone is an expensive wine that is worth buying when you can afford a bottle.

These wines are produced from grapes that are air-dried before they're pressed. The wine is rich and dark ruby red, often with dark fruit tastes and hints of chocolate.

Amarone usually goes well with red meats and rich red sauces on pasta.

I asked the wine-tasting group to compare different bottles of Amarone in a blind tasting. Here are our comments:

- 2000 Sartori di Verona Amarone at $34.99. The aroma was full of bright cherries, fig, menthol and vanilla. This wine was made in a New World style, meaning its principal, immediate impression depended on the fruit. The cherries carried on to the palate, and we discovered eucalyptus and dark chocolate on the finish.

- 2000 Zenato Amarone D.O.C. at $56.99. This wine had a subtle, savory aroma with chocolate, cigar leaf, ash and hay. In the mouth, it was silky and delicious with tastes of milk chocolate and raisins on the finish. This was our favorite wine in the tasting.

- 1998 Trabucci Amarone at $53.99. The aroma suggested black cherries, fennel seeds, crushed pepper. It was made in the Old World style, with less emphasis on the fruit and more on the structure of the wine. In the mouth, we tasted black cherries in a lush texture and a hint of tomato paste.

- 1996 Bertani Amarone at $79.99. This wine had the most classic aroma of the ones in the tasting. The smells reminded us of fig, raisin, orange, prunes and anise, all in a dusty air. The texture was smooth and the fig tastes carried through.

Surfing for wine values:

- 2001 Rutherford Hill Merlot at $25. We found currants, black cherries and other dark fruit in the aroma along with hints of milk chocolate. The wine was well balanced with good structure.

- 2001 Covey Run Merlot at $9. This bottle was a straightforward, easy-to-drink wine with oak, plum and cherry flavors.

- 2001 Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva at $17. This was a pretty wine with dusty, earthy aromas with notes of cherries and a long finish.

- 2000 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon Bosche Vineyard at $68 and cab from their Sycamore Vineyard at $60. The common flavor attributes of these two wines included a pleasant earthiness, green olives, dark chocolate and cedar. The Bosche was a bit more flowery with plum notes, while the Sycamore offered black currants. Both were complex wines.

- 2003 Napa Ridge Chardonnay at $12. An easy-drinking wine, this wine had a good bit of tropical fruit and green apples plus nice balance for a wine at this price.

- 2003 Napa Ridge Shiraz at $10. This was a simple, straightforward wine with pepper and blackberries in the aroma and a slightly oaky finish.

- 2003 Ecco Domani Merlot at $10.99. This wine had a big aroma of plums and red berries. On the palate, it was smooth, with cherry and plum flavors.

- 2002 Brolio Chianti Classico at $22. The floral aroma included cherries and oak. On the palate, the wine was medium-bodied with a good finish.

Questions may be sent to Frank Sutherland, editor, The Tennessean, 1100 Broadway, Nashville 37203, or e-mailed to editor@tennessean.com.